World Cup News
BBC:
Monkey gangs steal England flags
The safari park baboons now prefer pinching flags to windscreen wipers.A safari park in Merseyside is urging patriotic football fans to remove England flags from their vehicles to stop gangs of baboons pinching them.
Bosses at Knowsley Safari Park say the 120-strong troop of baboons usually swipe windscreen wipers but have turned to stealing World Cup flags instead.
Safari Park general manager David Ross said: “Many people are wisely removing them before going on the safari drive.
“If they forget the baboons usually take them.”
According to Mr Ross, the baboons have built up quite a stash.
I felt so sorry for these children when I first heard they’d been the victims of world cup ticket fraud, but (for once) there’s some good news:
[…]
Hundreds of schoolchildren caught up in an alleged World Cup ticket fraud will get to watch a game after government talks with Fifa, Downing Street said.
Nearly 400 disappointed pupils returned home from Germany after tickets for games on Saturday failed to turn up.
Pupils from Worcs, Oxfordshire, Dorset, Hants, Lincs and Suffolk were affected.
A 38-year-old man and a woman in her 40s, both of Slough, who were arrested on Wednesday on suspicion of deception have been released on police bail.
[…]
…on Wednesday Downing Street said personal talks between sports minister Richard Caborn and Fifa president Sepp Blatter had led to a deal being struck.
Mr Caborn said he was extremely grateful to Mr Blatter “for his swift and generous response”.
Some of the children will be going to this Sunday’s England v Ecuador game, while Fifa has offered others free tickets for a quarter-final match.
The spokesman said World Cup sponsors were paying for travel and accommodation for the children, with British Airways agreeing to fly most of the children to Germany.
Forty pupils from North Bromsgrove High School thought they were seeing Saturday’s game between Ghana and the Czech Republic in Cologne, but had to watch it on the city’s big screen when the tickets failed to materialise.
Deputy head Andrew Mackereth said: “It is absolutely fantastic news. We believe we will be going to a quarter final game which could even be England’s if they go through.”
At another affected school, Mayville High School in Portsmouth, 23 boys who came home disappointed on Monday were told they would be going to the England v Ecuador second round game on Sunday – courtesy of Portsmouth Football Club and its co-owner Alexandre Gaydamak.
Jay Francis, 14, said: “We can’t believe it. ‘A real high’ “To see a match is good but to see England is so amazing that I can’t comprehend it.”
Richard Sprake, also 14, said: “When we got to Germany and found we weren’t going to the match it was so upsetting, but now we’ve gone from a real low to a real high now we are going to see our team play.”
Head teacher Linda Owens said Mr Gaydamak and Portsmouth Football Club were paying the boys’ accommodation and transport costs and had played a part in arranging the tickets.
Mr Gaydamak said: “I heard about the situation on the news and I was very moved, especially as these children attend a school just a stone’s throw away from Fratton Park.
“These were unfortunate circumstances. I do believe that it is important for children to be involved in sports and it is great for them to now have the opportunity to go to the World Cup.
“I’m delighted my colleagues and I at the club have been able to make the trip happen for them.”
